Ashley Westwood: I need to improve

Aston Villa: Ashley Westwood tells Mat Kendrick he aims to improve on his season so far - with interactive stats

Ashley Westwood confesses he has not hit the heights of his debut campaign so far during his second season at
Villa and admits: “ I need to improve.”

Westwood was pleased with his performance in last weekend’s 2-0 win over Cardiff after being frustrated by injury and loss of form in recent months.

But the 23-year-old midfielder insists he is striving to recapture the consistency of his first season in the Premier League.

A
thigh problem, the first real injury of his claret and blue career, ruled him out of the Premier League wins against Norwich and Manchester City and the Capital One Cup exit against Tottenham in late September.

“I’ve
missed a few games with injury and I wasn’t happy about that,” said Westwood, who has started all of Villa’s other ten league and cup games this season. “I thought I started the season well, but faded a bit.

“On
Saturday I picked my personal performance up, I thought I was better and that’s something I need to improve on. I’ve not hit the levels I hit
last year and that’s something I’m working on.”

Westwood
admits excitement and adrenaline got him through his first season, following his shock move from League One on deadline-day last August but
the former Crewe captain knows that more is demanded of him by the claret and blue faithful this term and is determined to prove himself as
a top-flight player.

“People
start expecting more from you,” said Westwood. “I’m still learning the league. It’s a tough league and I’m not forgetting where I’ve come from.

“This
time last year, I’d just signed. It’s been a big year for me and I need
to keep on improving. Last year I didn’t really have time to think about it. I was just thrown in and it was either sink or swim. I thought
I did well last year, but it’s all about getting to grips with the league, there’s some top players in this league and it’s all about challenging yourself.”

Westwood,
who played in a deeper defensive role in Saturday’s victory over Cardiff, was pleased with another clean sheet and the end of Villa’s goal drought.

He hopes the international break is a time for the claret and blues to patch up their
injured players before the November 25 derby at West Bromwich Albion.

Considering
Villa’s tough early season fixture list, Westwood is more than satisfied with their 14-point haul and 11th place in the table.

“Saturday’s result was something the team needed,” he added.

“We
needed a big win at home and another clean sheet is always nice. We’ve scored the goals so we’ve got that off our backs now.

“We’ve got a nice break so we can hopefully get everyone fit and hopefully go again.

“I
think you look at the start we’ve had we’ve played most of the top seven so to be in that position I think the lads have done brilliantly.

“We’ve set ourselves in good stead to really kick on now.

“Against
Everton we could have been 3-0 up at half time, that’s another three points and then we’d be in the top half. So it’s a nice position to be in.”